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The Jacksonville Jaguars still plan to play Travis Hunter on both sides of the ball in 2026, despite his season-ending knee injury during his rookie season, general manager James Gladstone confirmed during his end-of-season news conference on Wednesday (January 14) via ESPN.
"We still expect him to play on both sides of the ball," Gladstone said. "... The steps that he was taking by the midpoint of the season really made us feel good about what the back half of the year was going to be on both sides of the ball and what that impact was going to look like being a feature point on offense and an impact player on defense.
"It [the injury] was just disappointing timing but nonetheless feel good about where we are heading into this offseason and what next year should hold."
Hunter underwent season-ending surgery on November 11 and the Jaguars had previously said that he was expected to return to "full football activities" within six months, but head coach Liam Coen was non-committal on whether that would mean taking on both offensive and defensive roles when asked about the situation at the time.
“I understand there’s a lot of questions about if he’ll remain a two-way player and all those kind of things,” Coen said told reporters on November 12 via the New York Post. “All of that is very premature, and at the end of the day like every player on this roster he’ll be evaluated at the end of the season and we’ll be able to give him his three better, three best and the things that we need to continue to improve upon and the things we need to build on.”
Hunter, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, was placed on injured serve on October 31. The former Heisman Trophy winner was coming off the best individual game of his rookie season, recording eight receptions for 101 yards and one touchdown in the Jaguars' October 19 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in London.
Hunter finished his rookie season with 28 receptions for 298 yards and one touchdown on offense and 15 tackles, three passes defended and one fumble recovery on defense.